OAFVC Blog

What's the Value of a Commercial Kitchen? Our Top 10 List

Before you ring in the New Year, here are 10 things a commercial kitchen can do for your business. You may be surprised at what is available for your food production business when you use a commercial kitchen like the Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre (OAFVC).

10 Examples of the Value of a Commercial Kitchen

1. Process Food

The experts at OAFVC can methodically guide you through each step of food processing, including minimally processed, processed and ultra processed food. For example, if vegetables are your main product, at OAFVC you are provided with a high hygiene room for cold pressing, dehydrating, washing and sanitizing, slicing, dicing, peeling, shredding, and centrifuge drying. And our experts are on site to advise you every step of the way.

2. Cook Food

If you have lots of ideas on how to cook your kale,OAFVC has you covered. Some of your options include; conventional cooking over gas open flame, braising, simmering or frying in large tilting kettles, baking and roasting in dual convection ovens, or sautéing or steaming in a tilting skillet.

3. Store Food

If your products or ingredients need dry, cold or freezer storage the commercial kitchen at OAFVC has you covered.

4. Freeze Food

Flash freeze your product with liquid nitrogen then store up to 65 pallets of it in the 0°F/-18°C on-site freezer. Blast Chillers and flash freezers don’t just sound cool, they preserve food nutrition, increase food safety by eliminating harmful bacteria, reduce waste and more. A blast chiller will bring your food temperature down to safe limits rapidly. It’s used most when food will be served within 24 hours and is nearly indistinguishable from the freshly cooked version. A flash freezer freezes your food quickly to preserve foods for a long period of time. Flash freezing has great benefits for shipping long distances or saving seasonal foods.

5. Grow Your Business With Business Consulting

More than just a commercial kitchen, OAFVC provides assistance with business plans, applications for any potential funding opportunities, marketing suggestions, and more.

6. Grow Your Network With Networking Events

Get to know some of your food production peers with OAFVC’s networking services. In a casual setting, get to know and learn from like-minded entrepreneurs who may have faced similar challenges as you are facing now with your food production company.

7. Develop New Products in a Product Development Lab

As a small business, you are your own R&D department. At OAFVC, you can use the Product Development Lab for testing all your quirky ideas you have dreamt up over the years and have staff assist you too.

8. Create Newer, Better Packaging With Our Graphic Designer

Stay versatile to changing trends and demands in your market with an in-house graphic designer. Having your own labels isn’t a problem: get them printed at OAFVC too.

9. Meet Health and Safety Standards for Food Production

Navigating all the proper legislation can be tricky and time consuming.Team up with experienced professionals to make sure your product meets all the proper standards before hitting the shelves.

10. Barter, Trade, and Sell

Did you have a bumper crop this year that you want to offload? Through the many networking and business opportunities at OAFVC you’ll meet so many food business entrepreneurs who might create products that you love or want to use, providing you with opportunities to trade and sell your products or services with others.

There are more than 10 reasons why OAFVC can help your food production business grow and succeed. Partner with the trusted and qualified team at the Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre today to realize the potential of your star product.

See All of What You Are Missing

With this free map of a commercial kitchen, you will:

Know the name and purpose of each piece of equipment in the commercial kitchen,

Access commercial kitchen equipment training for you and your team,

Understand the benefits of using a commercial kitchen for local food production to meet your customers’ needs.